This post is a continuation of Seeds for a Future Part 1: Getting your NGO off the ground.

When starting a nongovernmental organization (NGO) in a community other than your own, it is important to recognize that there are cultural barriers (try to call these "opportunities") to consider. Men, women and young adults live within age and gender roles that are deeply ingrained into their communities and ways of life, which can affect your operations.

Before you invest too much time and financial resources into your NGO, it is wise to get to know the community and participants: identify potential leaders among the men, women, and young adults, and adjust your cultural orientation to see things through their eyes. Hold discussions with participants and find out what will work for them, and in which motivated community members are afforded opportunities to put their vision on the table. Draw people on the exterior of the circle into your discussions. It is not that they do not have ideas, but rather, that they need to feel safe in putting their ideas on the table. Small, intimate round table discussion among peers using a talking stone can lead to a lot of insight and consensus building.

When we first began work in Chocolá, our consulting anthropologist and community resident insisted we work principally with the elders of the community to win their…

One piece of advice that aspiring nonprofit professionals should consider is to participate in an internship program.

I’m in the public relations/communications/marketing industry, and internships were not required in either my undergraduate or graduate degree programs, but speaking to professionals in this field, they are definitely encouraged. I have since had the opportunity to work at multiple nonprofit organizations as an intern, where I learned what I was good at, improved on many of my skills, and learned what makes a good internship program.

You can do it!...

All of the organizations I interned with had faith in me. They all gave me fairly substantial responsibilities that would have a public impact on the organization. Press releases, social media, and websites were just a few of my responsibilities, all of which are highly visible, and nowhere in my work did they put “made by our intern.” The fact that the organizations trusted in my abilities enough to hand these responsibilities off to me boosted my confidence level immensely — which is really important for someone who is in his or her first real career-related job.

An intern is not someone who is there just for you to pass off the tedious, boring projects that you don’t want to do (okay, I did get a few of these, and I accepted them with a smile on my face!). I really felt that these organizations wanted to use my…

Welcome to Research Friday! As part of a continuing series, we invite a nonprofit scholar or practitioner to highlight a research report or study and discuss how it can inform and improve day-to-day nonprofit practice. We welcome your comments and feedback.

As many of you know, we are now officially collecting data for the forthcoming edition of our Nonprofit Compensation and Benefits Report. This will be the ASU Lodestar Center’s fifth such publication; we released the first one (then entitled the “Wage and Salary Report”) back in 2001!

A lot has changed in the nonprofit world in the eleven years since our first report. The recent economic recession has been particularly challenging for nonprofits, bringing a tightening of resources coupled with an elevated need for services. And since nonprofit services are almost always provided and organized by people, these challenges and conditions affect organizations’ human resource practices — sometimes dramatically. So for this report, we’ve expanded our questions on nonprofit benefits practices, including questions asking how nonprofits are responding to various issues.

Click here to fill out our Nonprofit Compensation and Benefits survey!

Health insurance coverage

In our 2010 Nonprofit Compensation and Benefits Report, 94 percent of responding…

What is the nonprofit sector’s contribution to society’s economics? This is a question often asked — but responding in true economic terms has been more difficult. Although the ‘double bottom line’ — profit and social value — have long been recognized, there are now new ways of looking at this question, encompassed in new terms: social, core, and monetary economies.

Dr. Laurie Mook, a professor at Arizona State University, defines the term social economy as:

A bridging concept for organizations that have social objectives central to their mission and their practice, and either have explicit economic objectives or generate some economic value through the services they provide and purchases they undertake. The term social economy puts up front the economic value of social organizations — that they produce and market services, employ people, may own valuable assets, and generate social value.1

Another perspective on the concept of social economy is that of Edgar Cahn, who suggests we have created two systems that are inter-related: the monetary economy and the core economy. He explains that the monetary economy is what we measure. It encompasses the income sources that drive our society: profit, government, philanthropy, earned income. The core economy, although supported by money, is not driven by it. It is “primarily powered by our minds, our…

It doesn’t matter if you’re a teenager, a parent, a business owner, aspiring entrepreneur, or a nonprofit organization: money can be difficult to come by these days. Even in times of economic prosperity, many nonprofit organizations have to fight in order to maintain a steady flow of funding.

While most nonprofits find funding from a variety of sources, one of the staples of charitable support comes in the form of grants. Consequently, nonprofit professionals should be well versed in crafting and compiling well-written grant proposals.

Whether you’re appealing to the government, private organizations, individual investors, or charitable donation services, every grant proposal should include the following:

• Cover letter 
• Executive summary 
• Information about your organization 
• Description of your goals 
• Proposed strategy for meeting those goals 
• Method for evaluating your success 
• A fully developed budget 
• Appendix or attachments.

The cover letter, executive summary, and organization information (1/2 to 1 page each)

Like a job application or emailed resume, cover letters are essential to introducing your…